BILL NUMBER: AB 600	CHAPTERED  10/10/99

	CHAPTER   827
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   OCTOBER 8, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 9, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 16, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 8, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 17, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 28, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 25, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Knox and Villaraigosa
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Committee on Appropriations and Assembly
Members Ashburn, Brewer, Calderon, Campbell, Cedillo, Davis,
Frusetta, Granlund, Havice, Hertzberg, Honda, Jackson, Kuehl,
Lempert, Maldonado, Migden, Papan, Romero, Runner, Scott, Shelley,
Steinberg, Thompson, Thomson, Wesson, Wiggins, Wildman, Wright, and
Zettel)
   (Coauthors:  Senators Baca, Burton, Hayden, Solis, Speier, and
Vasconcellos)

                        FEBRUARY 19, 1999

   An act to amend Section 354.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and
to add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 13800) to Division 3 of the
Insurance Code, relating to insurance claims of Holocaust victims,
making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof,
to take effect immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 600, Knox.  Insurance claims of Holocaust victims.
   (1) Existing law prescribes certain powers and duties of the
Insurance Commissioner and of the Department of Insurance.  Existing
law requires the department to develop and implement a coordinated
approach to gather, review, and analyze the archives of insurers and
other archives and records, as specified, to provide for research and
investigation into insurance policies, unpaid insurance claims, and
related matters of victims of the Holocaust or the Nazi-controlled
German government or its allies, and the beneficiaries and heirs of
those victims, and for losses arising from the activities of the
Nazi-controlled German government or its allies for insurance
policies issued before and during World War II by insurers who have
affiliates or subsidiaries authorized to do business in the state.
   Existing law also provides that the department has an affirmative
duty to play an independent role in representing the interests of
Holocaust survivors, and provides that if an insurer or any affiliate
of an insurer has failed to pay any valid claim from Holocaust
survivors, the certificate of authority of the insurer shall be
suspended until the insurer, or its affiliates, pays the claim or
claims.
   This bill would, in addition, enact the Holocaust Victim Insurance
Relief Act of 1999, which would, among other things, require the
commissioner to establish and maintain the Holocaust Era Insurance
Registry, which would contain records and information relating to
insurance policies issued by insurers in the state, either directly
or through a related company, to persons in Europe which were in
effect between 1920 and 1945.  This bill would require those insurers
to file or cause to be filed that information with the commissioner
to be entered into the registry.  It would also require those
insurers to certify as true certain additional information, and would
make it a crime to knowingly certify as true any material matter
which the insurer knows to be false.  By creating a new crime, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.  This bill would
also provide for certain civil penalties for knowingly filing false
information about a policy, as required by these new provisions.  The
bill would appropriate these civil penalties from the General Fund
to the Department of Insurance to be used to aid in the resolution of
Holocaust insurance claims.  It would also require the commissioner
to suspend the certificate of authority of any insurer that fails to
comply with these requirements by the 210th day of the effective date
of these provisions, and to adopt emergency rules to implement these
provisions.
   (2) Existing law authorizes any Holocaust victim, as defined, or
heir or beneficiary of a Holocaust victim, who resides in this state
and has a claim arising out of an insurance policy or policies
purchased in Europe between 1920 and 1945 from a specified insurer to
bring a legal action to recover on that claim in any superior court
of the state for the county in which the plaintiff or one of the
plaintiffs resides, which shall be vested with jurisdiction over that
action until its completion or resolution.  Existing law also
provides that any claim of this type shall not be dismissed for
failure to comply with the applicable statute of limitation if the
action is commenced on or before December 31, 2010.
   This bill would instead authorize those persons to bring a legal
action to recover on a claim arising out of an insurance policy or
policies purchased or in effect in Europe before 1945 from a
specified insurer, and would change the definition of "Holocaust
victim" and "insurer," as specified.
  (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
  (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
   Appropriation:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 354.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
   354.5.  (a) The following definitions govern the construction of
this section:
   (1) "Holocaust victim" means any person who was persecuted during
the period of 1929 to 1945, inclusive, by Nazi Germany, its allies,
or sympathizers.
   (2) "Related company" means any parent, subsidiary, reinsurer,
successor in interest, managing general agent, or affiliate company
of the insurer.
   (3) "Insurer" means an insurance provider doing business in the
state, or whose contacts in the state satisfy the constitutional
requirements for jurisdiction, that sold life, property, liability,
health, annuities, dowry, educational, casualty, or any other
insurance covering persons or property to persons in Europe at any
time before 1945, directly or through a related company, whether the
sale of the insurance occurred before or after the insurer and the
related company became related.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any Holocaust
victim, or heir or beneficiary of a Holocaust victim, who resides in
this state and has a claim arising out of an insurance policy or
policies purchased or in effect in Europe before 1945 from an insurer
described in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), may bring a legal
action to recover on that claim in any superior court of the state
for the county in which the plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs
resides, which court shall be vested with jurisdiction over that
action until its completion or resolution.
   (c) Any action brought by a Holocaust victim or the heir or
beneficiary of a Holocaust victim, whether a resident or nonresident
of this state, seeking proceeds of the insurance policies issued or
in effect before 1945 shall not be dismissed for failure to comply
with the applicable statute of limitation, provided the action is
commenced on or before December 31, 2010.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 13800) is added to
Division 3 of the Insurance Code, to read:

      CHAPTER 4.  HOLOCAUST ERA INSURANCE REGISTRY

   13800.  This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief Act of 1999.
   13801.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) During World War II, untold millions of lives and property
were destroyed.
   (b) In addition to the many atrocities that befell the victims of
the Nazi regime, insurance claims that rightfully should have been
paid out to the victims and their families, in many cases, were not.

   (c) In many instances, insurance company records are the only
proof of insurance policies held.  In some cases, recollection of
those policies' very existence may have perished along with the
Holocaust victims.
   (d) At least 5,600 documented Holocaust survivors are living in
California today.  Many of these survivors and their descendents have
been fighting for over 50 years to persuade insurance companies to
settle unpaid or wrongfully paid claims.  Survivors are asking that
insurance companies come forth with any information they possess that
could show proof of insurance policies held by Holocaust victims and
survivors, in order to ensure that closure on this issue is swiftly
brought to pass.
   (e) Insurance companies doing business in the State of California
have a responsibility to ensure that any involvement they or their
related companies may have had with insurance policies of Holocaust
victims are disclosed to the state and to ensure the rapid resolution
of these questions, eliminating the further victimization of these
policyholders and their families.
   (f) The international Jewish community is in active negotiations
with responsible insurance companies through the International
Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims to resolve all
outstanding insurance claims issues.  This chapter is necessary to
protect the claims and interests of California residents, as well as
to encourage the development of a resolution to these issues through
the international process or through direct action by the State of
California, as necessary.
   13802.  For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
   (a) "Holocaust victim" means any person who was persecuted during
the period of 1929 to 1945, inclusive, by Nazi Germany, its allies,
or sympathizers.
   (b) "Related company" means any parent, subsidiary, reinsurer,
successor in interest, managing general agent, or affiliate company
of the insurer.
   (c) "Proceeds" means the face value or other payout value of
insurance policies and annuities plus reasonable interest to date of
payment without diminution for wartime or immediate postwar currency
devaluation.
   13803.  The commissioner shall establish and maintain within the
department a central registry containing records and information
relating to insurance policies, as described in Section 13804, of
Holocaust victims, living and deceased.  The registry shall be known
as the Holocaust Era Insurance Registry.  The Attorney General, in
coordination with the department, shall establish appropriate
mechanisms to ensure public access to the registry.
   13804.  (a) Any insurer currently doing business in the state that
sold life, property, liability, health, annuities, dowry,
educational, or casualty insurance policies, directly or through a
related company, to persons in Europe, which were in effect between
1920 and 1945, whether the sale occurred before or after the insurer
and the related company became related, shall, within 180 days
following enactment of this act, file or cause to be filed the
following information with the commissioner to be entered into the
registry:
   (1) The number of those insurance policies.
   (2) The holder, beneficiary, and current status of those policies.

   (3) The city of origin, domicile, or address for each policyholder
listed in the policies.
   (b) In addition, each insurer subject to subdivision (a) shall
certify to any of the following:
   (1) That the proceeds of the policies described in subdivision (a)
have been paid to the designated beneficiaries or their heirs where
that person or persons, after diligent search, could be located and
identified.
   (2) That the proceeds of the policies where the beneficiaries or
heirs could not, after diligent search, be located or identified,
have been distributed to Holocaust survivors or to qualified
charitable nonprofit organizations for the purpose of assisting
Holocaust survivors.
   (3) That a court of law has certified in a legal proceeding
resolving the rights of unpaid policyholders, their heirs, and
beneficiaries, a plan for the distribution of the proceeds.
   (4) That the proceeds have not been distributed and the amount of
those proceeds.
   An insurer who certifies as true any material matter pursuant to
this subdivision, which the insurer knows to be false, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
   (c) An insurer currently doing business in the state that did not
sell any insurance policies in Europe prior to 1945, shall not be
subject to this section if a related company, whether or not
authorized and currently doing business in the state, has made a
filing under this section.
   13805.  Any insurer that knowingly files information about a
policy required by this chapter that is false shall, with respect to
that policy, be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed five
thousand dollars ($5,000), which penalty is hereby appropriated to
the department to be used by it to aid in the resolution of Holocaust
insurance claims.
   13806.  The commissioner shall suspend the certificate of
authority to conduct insurance business in the state of any insurer
that fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter by the
210th day after this section becomes effective, until the time that
the insurer complies with this chapter.
   13807.  The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this
chapter within 90 days of its effective date.  The rules shall be
adopted as emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of the Government Code, and for the
purposes of that chapter, including Section 11349.6 of the Government
Code, the adoption of the rules shall be considered by the Office of
Administrative Law to be necessary for the immediate preservation of
the public peace, health and safety, and general welfare.
  SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
  SEC. 4.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect.  The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In order to establish the Holocaust Era Insurance Registry and to
ensure the resolution of claims under insurance policies held by
Holocaust victims and survivors at the earliest possible time, it is
necessary that this act take effect immediately.
